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Shaky
The criminal mastermind Shaky (last name possibly Trembly) was a con-man who was a master of his craft. His most prominent characteristic was his habit of nervous shaking. Despite his shaking, he was often shown performing feats of dexterity, including sharp-shooting, threading a needle, and building a ship in a bottle. The Badger Game In addition to the confidence schemes that his gang conducted, he had held the young maiden Snowflake Falls captive. After she was released from Shaky's grip, she was given the chance to go into show business thanks to Dick Tracy's new friend Vitamin Flintheart. Shaky got his revenge on the girl for ruining his operation by bludgeoning her, tossing her in the freezing ocean and leaving her for dead. Fortunately, she was pulled out and eventually recovered. As Tracy closed in on Shaky and his gang, most of the gang were killed in a fire and only Shaky escaped (killing a fireman named O'Brien in the process). Shaky was chased to the waterfront, where he hid out in a hole under the pier. The hole was closed by breakers that turned into ice, sealing Shaky within. Shaky died, either from suffocation inside the hole or from freezing to death. Shaky's Legacy Months later, Shaky's decomposed corpse was found by a young girl named Breathless Mahoney, who was later revealed to be Shaky's step-daughter. Elia Mahoney, Shaky's former wife and Breathless' mother, had guessed the probable location of Shaky's body and sent her daughter to "discover" the remains. This enabled Elia to obtain the keys to Shaky's strong box. This resulted in an extended escapade about who would claim the dead criminal's money which ultimately involved Breathless, Elia, B.O. Plenty, and Shaky's friend, Itchy. The money was finally burned up in a car that Itchy had stolen. The Xylon Plot In 1986, reporter Wendy Wichell questioned Dick Tracy about his involvement in the Xylon Affair. Tracy revealed that the first time he met Shaky was when he was hired by a Nazi Spy code-named Boche to retrieve the secret formula for the Xylon explosive, created by Professor Roloc Bard. Shaky posed as a man named Mr. Pappy, who represented the organization "Pacifists for Peace". Shaky discouraged the Professor from turning over his formula to the FBI, but after it was revealed that the formula was already turned over to them, Shaky suggested that if both sides had the bomb, neither side would use it. Bard wrote down the Formula and gave it to Shaky. As Shaky left the Professor's rooming house, Tracy immediately recognized him and he and Pat Patton followed him while FBI agent Jim Trailer checked in with Bard. Trailer's fears were confirmed that Shaky swindled the formula out of the now-distrought Bard. Shaky hid the formula in his cigarette papers and fled from his cab, seeing that Tracy was after him. He was nonetheless captured. At HQ, Patton was interrogating Shaky and had let him smoke three cigarettes, thinking it might calm his shakes. The formula wasn't on Shaky, Tracy knew that he must've had it but destroyed it, so they couldn't hold him because all they had was just speculation. Shaky later called Boche saying that he didn't tell the police anything but he had to destroy the formula. Boche severed his ties with Shaky. Shaky then left town for a while, afraid that the Boche would kill him for his failure. That was where Shaky's involvement in the Xylon caper ended. Shaky was enshrined years later along with Flattop Jones and Pruneface by their relatives when they hid out on the 2nd replica of the Santa Maria while continuing the Xylon ring. Notes *Elia Mahoney later told Breathless that Elia and Shaky had been introduced by Shaky's sister. It is not clear if this sister is the mother of Quiver, but that would account for the different last names. *Shaky and Elia were married while Breathless was away at school. As a result, Shaky and Breathless never met. *Elia was identified by police as Shaky's fourth wife. Appearances in Other Media "Dick Tracy in B Flat" Shaky was a character in the humorous radio play "Dick Tracy in B Flat", produced for Armed Forces Radio in February of 1945. He was played by Frank Sinatra. 1950s Live Action TV Series Shaky appeared on the 1950s live action "Dick Tracy" TV series starring Ralph Byrd. He was played by Dabbs Greer. Shaky had been a member of a gang run by Blowtop (who was now deceased) and had been sent to jail. Upon his release, Shaky (and his associate Buck) returned to the gang's old hideout seeking clues to the whereabouts of some hidden loot. His actions attracted the attention of Dick Tracy and Shaky was eventually captured. Shaky had his characteristic shaking hands, but it was not as prominently featured as in the comic strip. Archives TV Funnies In the 1971 "Archives TV Funnies" animated series, Shaky was shown as a criminal hiding in a subway who tried to escape from Tracy in a futuristic vehicle. His shaking prevented him from making a clean getaway. Movie Continuity Shaky does not appear as a character in the 1990 "Dick Tracy" feature film or in the comic book tie-in. He is a character in the follow-up novel Dick Tracy Goes to War written by Max Allan Collins. In the novel, Shaky is a confidence trickster who poses as a general to collect money for the war effort. he is caught and arrested by Tracy, but is later freed. Shaky joins the subversive organization being operated by Mrs. Pruneface, along with B-B Eyes and the Mole. He trains various other criminals in how to run confidence scams that will affect negatively affect Americans' morale and raise money for the fifth-columnists. Shaky is not portrayed as sympathietic to the Nazi cause, simply motivated by self-interest. Shaky is instructed to again pose as a general and gain access to a military aircraft factory operated by Diet Smith. There, Shaky's assignment is to kidnap the professor Roloc Bard and flee the premises before a bomb goes off, destroying the plant. Shaky is successful in abducting the professor, but his escape is cut off by Dick Tracy. Fearing that he will be caught in the explosion, Shaky reveals his part in the plot. The bomb is diffused and Shaky is taken into police custody. Known Associates *Snowflake Falls (Captive/Forced Accomplice, Deceased) *Itchy Oliver (Deceased) *"Specs" Jones (Deceased) *Cappy Williams (Deceased) *Marty Mennis *Joe Doke (Deceased) *Eddie Endit (Deceased) *Boche: aka Pruneface (Deceased) Known Relatives *Unnamed sister *Unnamed previous three wives *Eila Mahoney (fourth wife; Deceased) *Breathless Mahoney (step-daughter, Deceased) *Heartless Mahoney (step-daughter) *Unnamed third Mahoney sister (step-daughter) *Restless Mahoney (step-granddaughter) *Unnamed Mahoney boy (Restless' older brother) (step-grandson, Deceased) *Quiver Trembly (niece) *Tom Trembly (nephew) Category:Deceased